The outreach to Khekheng in Botswana calls for some feedback as God did amazing things for us as well as in the lives of the local people of the Villages we visited. I have been waiting for other team members to contribute but it seems that “Life Happens”, everybody came back and got stuck in and therefor my version of events will have to do.
On Saturday, 4 July, it was all systems go and the Bring-and-Braai to do some team building and preparations had everyone excited. Unfortunately there were some team members waiting for delayed passports. The team got together on Tuesday afternoon, 7 July, to pack, at which time it became known that there were members staying behind, still due to passport delays!
Unbeknown to us, Willie and Debbie, who were eagerly loading the big trailer which had to be towed by their vehicle, also still had no passports! Debbie phoned the helpline that night just to here that their passports were not ready yet. Willie told us this on the last day around the camp fire. After the rest of us departed at six on Wednesday morning, they came into town and joined the line in front of the then still closed offices of Home Affairs, not yet having received the messages to say that they can fetch their passports. Upon entering the building they still had no confirmation that they will get passports but Willie just insisted that they will manage to join us later that day. The trailer with most of the bags and camping gear of the team, tools and building material was still standing at their house! They were third in the row from the counter when Debbie and then Willie received the required message to tell them that their passports were ready for pick up!! Now that’s what I call GOD’S PERFECT TIMING! They left immediately and joined us in Khekheng at ten that night, very tired and very relieved!
In the meantime the rest of us got to the border at Lobatse and had to struggle for three hours to see if a youth member, JP, could go through with only a letter to say that he applied for the required unabridged birth certificate needed to travel without his parents. To no avail, Graham had to return him to Zeerust where his parents came to fetch him during the day. By this time the delay caused the first of us to arrive in Khekheng at 5 in the afternoon and for Graham’s vehicle to arrive between 7 and 8 that night. The fact that most of the team travelled during the night on roads where most people don’t dare to travel after dark was a miracle in itself. Animals roaming freely next to roads with no fences make travelling in the dark really risky. We thank God that we all got to Khekheng without incident.
As the sun came up on Thursday we were all up and about, ready for some hard work and good fellowship with the local communities.
On Friday a group visited the local school to deliver donated stationary before the schools closed on that day for the holidays. Kim met some of the teachers and the husband of one of them. Debbie took pictures of the visit. Late afternoon Charles unpacked the laptop and data projector to prepare for the screening of the Jesus film on Saturday and Sunday evenings. To his dismay he discovered that the cable to connect the laptop and projector was missing from the bag! There we were, stuck in a village in the dessert, no electricity, no nearby shops and a weekend ahead. Some of the plans were to send someone more than 200km back to Jwaneng to see if they can find a cable or to take a chance of going more than 50km to Kang, not knowing if there will be a shop with such cables. That night we all gathered around the camp fire and prayed for a miracle, as Phil 4:6&7 says “Do not be anxious about anything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
The next morning Kim met the husband of the teacher again, telling him of our cable problem. He suggested going to the local Clinic as he knew they recently got a new computer donated to them, even though there is no electricity in the Village! Kim found the Clinic Sister, sick in bed, the only reason why she has not yet left for the holidays. She opened the box of the donated computer and instantly took out the exact cable that we needed, brand new! Now that’s ANSWERED PRAYERS FOR YOU!
On Saturday we went to Puduhudu, another nearby village. Arriving there the wind was blowing and we had to hang a sheet between two trees to show the Jesus film that night. A few of us stood in the spot where we planned the screening and prayed for a calm, wind still night. Later that night, as I stood at the back of the crowd, interceding in prayer, I realized that the sheet was hanging dead still between those same two trees where we prayed that afternoon. More than forty community members came forward after an altar call that night and committed their lives to Christ!
On Sunday we had the most amazing time worshipping with the Khekheng Community in the newly renovated church building on which the team really worked very hard. After the service there was an impromptu first aid session on two children who had bad burns and infected wounds on their hands and legs. Later that night the Jesus film was shown again and many of the people committed their lives to Christ.
The next day a very tired but content group left the village wishing that we could stay longer! Rustenburg Methodist Church joined God and hopes to do so again in the near future.
All honour to God for everything that work out and for an amazing time spent with fellow believers.
Stephne Kendall
If and when this Testimony has spoken into your heart, please go to the Commitment page.
hallelujah!